Math Quiz tomorrow on dividing decimals

Dear Families,

Tomorrow we are having a quiz on dividing decimals using long division. We practiced this skill all last week in math review and today students took a practice quiz, then we went over the answers. Between their math reviews last week (in their math notebook) and the practice quiz, they should have lots to review to get ready for tomorrow's quiz. But just in case anyone wants more to practice, here is a link to some extra practice problems and their answers. There is no need to have these checked in with me in the morning.

• Level 2 practice [link]
  
• Level 3 practice: [link]
  
• Level 4 practice: [link]
  

How I've Taught the Skill:

We've looked at this as an extension of long division. Most students had done long division in 5th grade, but for a few their first time learning it was earlier this year in our math reviews. I believe the same process we've practiced in class is demonstrated in these videos:

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlEx1TN-dqY
  
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PU5JshO0xA
  

Why does it work?

Well, this algorithm is the same one we all learned in school. And at first it seems like it's just a magic trick. But really, this is based in the equivalent fractions that students learned earlier in the year. I tried to help students understand this reasoning, but really, most of them needed to focus on practicing the steps so I believe only a few cared about 

1. 1/2 and 5/10 are equivalent fractions... to get to 5/10 from 1/2 you just multiply the numerator and the denominator by 5. But they both have a decimal value of 0.5... so they are equivalent. 
2. Let's say I want to divide 4.5 by 0.9. I can write that division in fraction format as 4.5/0.9. If I multiply the top and the bottom by 10, it becomes 45/9. The decimal seems to have moved one spot to the right for each one. 
3. That's the same thing that we are doing in decimal division. By moving the divisor's decimal one place to the right, we are multiplying it by 10. If we have to move it two spaces to the right, we are multiplying it by 100. We do the same thing to the divisor so that it is equivalent to the original math problem and it will have the same answer.

This Quiz Counts for Spring Semester

I will record this math quiz in the Spring semester so that students can have the opportunity to revise their work and improve.

Thank you,

Brian MacNevin

WMS: Math Update

Dear Families,

Just an update about what's going on in math and science: surface area and energy! Cool!

Math

• Several students had the Winter MAP test this morning just as a mid-year checkup.
• In class and we explored more about the surface area of pyramids. Last week we learned about square and triangular pyramids, but today we are looking at triangular pyramids with lateral sides that are different from the triangular base. In 6th grade we are focusing on the surface areas of rectangular prisms (blocks) and pyramids.
• Here is a website that describes the pyramidal surface area well! http://www.mathsisfun.com/geometry/pyramids.html
• Students received back their decimal multiplication quiz today. Tomorrow I will be having students record in their planners the retake opportunities available to them. They will need to bring revised quizzes with them as a ticket to retake the quiz.

Science

• In science we are finishing up batteries as a model of energy storage and during this week we will be looking at energy being stored in mechanical (elastic) interactions and in gravity interactions. 
  

Sincerely,

Brian MacNevin

WMS: Math Update and Influenza PSA

Dear Families,

Math

I just wanted to remind you that students have some opportunities to retake their percents quiz this week. They need to revise what they did before on their original quiz, and bring that to one of the retake sessions. A complete revision of their work is the ticket to retake the quiz. Here's a mini calendar for the rest of this week. There is a more comprehensive class calendar at my website (http://www.mrmacnevin.com). 

• Thursday:
  Percent Quiz Retake @ Lunch Time
• Friday:
  Multiplying Decimals Quiz in class
  Percent Quiz Retake @ Lunch Time

Influenza

I've heard a lot on the news over the last week about the flu hitting our area. News clips are always very scary and often offer little information besides telling us to wash our hands and to be vaccinated. The Khan Academy has posted a series of video mini-lectures that explain more about the flu. Those videos are available here: [link]. I am going to see if there are parts of it that my students might benefit from in class. But I figure more information is always better than less about it.

I hope you have a great Wednesday afternoon and evening!

Sincerely,

Brian MacNevin

WMS: Math/Science Update

Dear Families,

Hi again! I just wanted to let you know where we are at in math and science right now! 

Math

1. Last week we took the percents quiz on Thursday. Today my students in my blue group got their quiz back to bring home. My red group students will get theirs first thing tomorrow morning (nothing is wrong, I just forgot to hand it out before they transitioned to Language Arts/SS).
2. Tomorrow night students will write a reflective letter on the quiz.
3. I was REALLY impressed with how well students knew their strategies! Unfortunately, I was a little surprised at how many calculation errors there were. In other words: almost everyone knew what the needed to do, they just couldn't do the calculations reliably. I couldn't give someone a 3 (meeting grade level) based on the concept if they couldn't carry out the calculation.
4. Students with less than a 3 are to revise their work and come to extended learning for support this week.
5. NEW TOPIC: Last week we reviewed the area of rectangles and triangles and we also looked at the area of composite (complex) shapes. Right now we are extending those skills into 3D! Today we talked about surface area and we used grid-paper constructs called nets to help us imagine and calculate the surface area of some small shapes built of three 1-cm cubes. We will focus on the surface area of rectangular prisms and pyramids with some composite 3D shapes as well! It's a fun thing to study!

Science

1. Last week we looked at rechargeable batteries and this we are going to keep doing that. We are trying to build an operational definition what a battery is.

Thanks so much for all of your support of Whatcom Middle School!

Sincerely,

Brian MacNevin

WMS: Math/Science Update

Dear Families,

Welcome to our first full week after break! I hope you all had wonderful pause from the regular school schedule and had some time to reconnect. I just want to update you about what we're working on right now in math and science.

Math

1. Wrapping up percentages: We have completed the investigations into percentages and I think we've gotten as much out of it as we're going to for right now. Between the break and wanting the kids to have some geometric sense built before going on with it, we are going spend math reviews of this week practicing percent calculations and applications Monday- Wednesday.
2. On Wednesday night students will bring home a practice quiz.
3. On Thursday we will have a quiz on percentages. 
4. The rest of the time we are moving into geometry and measurement. This week we will review area and perimeter of rectangles and triangles, we will add analysis of composite shapes, and we will start talking about application (like finding square footage of carpet, associated costs, etc). 

Science

1. We have finished our unit on ecology and are starting on our unit on physics. This unit will be structured very differently from the last one, so stay tuned for information about students sharing their work with you.
2. In general, each of the lessons is arranged in three segments:
1. Getting Started (preconceptions)
2. Evidence (experiments and observation)
3. Reflections (conclusions and thinking questions)
3. Right before break we built some batteries from Copper, Zinc, Copper Sulfate Solution, and some blotter paper. This week we are examining rechargeable batteries to discover some about their properties.

Again, welcome back and have a wonderful evening!

Sincerely,

Brian MacNevin